


Rising Storms

by DragonWitchPrincess



Series: New X timeline [1]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Light Angst, Organ Theft, Surgery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-23 23:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15616929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWitchPrincess/pseuds/DragonWitchPrincess
Summary: It's been six months since Logan's return from time traveling and things seem to be going well for him. The School is thriving and he finally has his girl back in his arms. When a mutant hating attacks the church where Kurt is giving his first sermon as a priest and mutilates Storm, Logan takes her back to his cabin to recuperate.





	1. Ambush

**Author's Note:**

> So, I know I have to finish Logan's Heart, but sometimes when I'm writing I have to get into the events that led to them. This was originally going to be a two piece, but now I'm making it a three piece story line. Anyway enjoy! Events start not long after DOFP.

A deep growl escaped Wolverine’s throat as he was awaken from one of his few pleasant dreams. _Damn birds_ , he thought as he pulled the pillow over his head. Something shifted next to him and he pulled it closer, inhaling their scent as they shifted toward him. “Logan…” a soft voice whispered groggily.

Logan smiled, nuzzling her at the crook of her neck. “‘Ro,” he replied, tightening his grip around her waist. “Stay. Sleep.”

Storm chuckled next to him, sighing as she reached up to caress his mutton chops. His eyes closed at her touch, and for the briefest of moments, All was well. And then she spoke. “You know we have to get ready for Kurt’s sermon at the church.”

Wolverine groaned, adjusting himself accordingly so that he had Storm pinned against him, but making sure they were comfortable. “We both know I can’t sit still long enough for a three hour sermon about how we’re all created equally and all that bull.”

Storm sighed, her hand continuing to caress him. “Kurt is our friend, Logan,” she murmured. “We should go— at the very least— for moral support.” 

Logan was about to mutter something when he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end and smelled the faintest hint of ozone. Storm was going to get up one way  or another, and she wasn’t afraid to use her powers to get her way. “Fine,” he grumbled, slacking his grip so she can pull away. Before she could even move, though, he placed feather light kisses on her neck, earning a soft gasp that was followed by a moan after he reached her sweet spot… something he remembered despite his time traveling. “Can’t we just wait a few more minutes?”

Storm released a throaty chuckle before capturing his lips, teasing him a bit as her hand wandered down his chest. “Time’s up,” she mumbled, pulling away from him as she stood up.

Logan sighed and leaned back against the headboard and watched as Storm walked around in her silk nightgown. It had taken him six months for him to rekindle his friendship with Storm. According to Jean and the Professor, Logan had tried to chase the beautiful red head, but after making her decision he left it alone. Apparently the weather witch had decided to get Logan out of his funk and the two had eventually become a couple. However, after his time traveling, the wind rider had pulled away from him, and it was his turn to pursue the white haired mutant. It had taken only a few weeks for them to get reacquainted— for him— and from there they had progressed into long walks in the forest, talking by the lake, and sparring sessions. Last night was the first night they had spent together, although Storm had made it clear that she wanted to keep it to cuddles and kisses.

“Logan!” Storm called, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Storm tossing him some clothes. “Get your head out of the clouds and get dressed.”

“Yes, Boss Lady,” Logan laughed, getting up and changing. Storm had made sure to grab a flannel and a nice pair of jeans for him; he wouldn’t get dressed up unless the situation required, and with sermons, to each their own.

Once he was changed, Storm was still busy putting on her earrings when he walked up behind her. “Goddess, Logan,” she giggled, grabbing her ruby necklace off of the vanity and holding it up for him to clasp.

Once it was set, Storm turned and placed a loving kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said, grasping his wrist as she walked out the door to the staircase.

“How long do we have to stay again?” Logan asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Until the end,” she said firmly, giving him a pointed look. “I won’t make you stay for the after party, though.”

“You’re cruel,” Logan grunted, grabbing his leather jacket and sliding it on.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Storm murmured, caressing his cheek teasingly; her mint green dress swaying around her legs as she walked toward the kitchen where there were a thousand voices coming out. “Kitty, Rogue, Jubilee!” She called into the kitchen. “Let’s go, we’re going to be late!”

Whenever Storm called on the students, no one questioned why, they just did it. Three teens appeared out of the door and ran toward the garage where Logan’s Jeep was waiting for them. Logan had already turned on his heel to walk away when he heard Storm call out through the door again. “Jean, make sure Scott stays out of trouble on the road.”

“You got it,” Logan heard the red head respond before Storm walked back out, laughing a bit.

“How come you get to tease one-eye?” Logan, feigning hurtfulness.

“Because I’ve known him longer,” Storm chuckled wryly, looping her arm through his as they walked to the Jeep where the three teens were already fighting over the music.

 

***

It wasn’t a long drive, about ten minutes from the mansion. Storm was very excited about her friend accomplishing what he felt like he was placed on this earth to do; although, she was a bit saddened that he wouldn’t be spending nearly as much time at the mansion with others, but he promised to come and visit whenever possible.

“Earth to Storm,” Logan’s voice called, bringing the wind rider out of her thoughts. She blushed as she looked and realized that the three girls were already headed inside. “Get lost inside yer head?”

“Perhaps,” Storm smirked, accepting his hand as he helped her down and walked with her to the freshly remodeled church. It had been abandoned for quite awhile, and when Kurt expressed interest in becoming ordained, the Professor has used his influences to purchase the land and a contractor to remodel. Storm could still smell the fresh paint job as she walked inside the building, hiding a smile of amusement as Logan wrinkled his; she then waved her hand to bring in some fresh air from outside.

“How long is the sermon again?” Logan asked, taking a deep breath of the wind.

“I’m pretty sure it’s only supposed to be an hour and a half,” Storm replied, offering him a small smile. “Why don’t you wait here and I’ll go find Kurt?”

Before either one could move, there was a loud popping sound came from above them. “Elf,” Logan growled, turning to glower at Nightcrawler. “Just because you’re officially in the holy ranks doesn’t mean I won’t gut ya if you mess up my nose.”

Storm waved her hand to blow off the smell of sulfur as Kurt turned to face them. “My apologies, Wolverine,” Kurt replied, smiling brightly as he looked to Storm. “I just wanted to come and thank you both for coming.”

“You’re very welcome, Kurt,” Storm smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek. She could sense Logan shift his stance a bit, as if he were getting slightly jealous; but, a look from her forced him to relax. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, my friend.”

The organ started to play, and Kurt smiled at them. “Bis bald,” Kurt said, before teleporting to the podium. This time, Storm was ready and had a light breeze carry the scent of sulfur away from Logan.

“Let’s go sit down, Logan,” Storm murmured, taking her hand into his and guiding him to the pew in the back.

***

Logan kissed Storm’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as the organ stopped playing, and Kurt stepped up to the dais. “I vant to thank you all for coming today…”

As Kurt continued on, thanking God for allowing him into the position, Logan started to get a bit restless— shifting his weight a bit. “You okay?” Storm murmured, looking up at him.

“Long as you’re with me—“ Logan began to reply, only he cut himself off when he heard voices on the outside. Tilting his head slightly, he tried to listen to the voices, every instinct telling him to run away from the place. However, when he heard the loud beeping of a charge on the door, he turned toward the altar. “Get down!” He cried, pulling Storm down with him, just before the explosion came.

He tried to shield her as best as he could, being aware that the explosion could trigger a panic attack in her. The pew was blasted over their heads, as chunks of wall flew towards them. “Grab the mutants!” Someone called, as men in camo raced in, guns raised to fend off any resistance.

Logan growled, getting off of Storm, and revealing his claws. He smelled ozone in the air as he felt the winds swirl past him and lifting her up. “Nightcrawler, get the Professor to safety!” He heard Scott bark as he released several optic blasts at the onslaught that was coming in.

The popping sounds that followed suggested that Kurt followed the request. “Didn’t we already do this dance?” He heard Kitty call as several of the guns started going off to hit the mutants. Storm was closest and just used her winds to deflect the onslaught, and that was when he recognized the sedative vials from when Stryker had raided the mansion. He wanted to go out and gut these guys like the animals they were, but Storm’s winds would have likely swept he aside before he could reach their target.

Suddenly,something hit the ceiling just above Storm; and the rocks came crumbling down on top of her. The balcony broke her fall, but still covered her body. Logan roared and leapt to attack the closest gunman. I’m getting her Logan, he heard Jean call telepathically as he slashed through the man’s torso. He heard the gun click and several sedatives launch out. “Jean!” He called too late as they went toward the redhead. An optic blast hit them last minute just before Jean landed on the balcony.

Logan turned when he felt sedatives pierce his chest, and roared again before launching himself at his next target. Suddenly, several metallic object rolled passed him and exploded. Wolverine grasped his head and howled in pain as his senses temporarily went awry. Several more metallic objects rolled past them, and released some gas. With his senses still reeling from the stun grenades, Logan tried to cover his mouth and escape, but he was quickly enveloped into darkness with one thought on his mind. “Ororo…”

***

“The white haired one is who we want,” the General said, locating the black mutant who was passed out next to the red head telekinetic that had brought her down to get to safety. They had started to pull her away when popping sounds began surrounding them. “Grab as many as you can!” He ordered, racing with his men to grab their target. As long as she was delivered to their employers, it didn’t matter how many they captured; all mutants were going to be annihilated eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

Logan groaned as he came to, slowly taking in his surroundings. The sterile chemical scent made him think he was back at Weapon X for the briefest of moments until he heard a feminine voice next to him. “Easy, Logan…” Rogue said softly. “Ya took quite a hit.”

“Where is everyone…?” Logan asked, trying to remember. Storm had been saying something to him when a bomb went off… and then… she had been hit… “Storm… how is she?”

Before Rogue could say anything, the doors to the medbay opened and Jean, Hank and Chuck came in. “How’re you feeling, Logan?” Jean asked as Hank walked toward the monitors.

“Jean,” he breathed, relieved she was safe… and she had been the one trying to get Storm out of the rubble. “Jean, where’s Storm?” 

Jean hesitated and looked to the Professor, who looked away. “Nightcrawler did what he could, Logan…” she began slowly. “He was the one who teleported us to safety after the grenades went off.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Jean,” Logan snarled, his heart cringing at what he already knew. “Where is ‘Ro?”

“They have her,” Charles said calmly. “I’m using Cerebro to try and locate her; but she is either unconscious or heavily sedated.”

“Who is they?” Logan snarled, his fists clenching as his claws threatened to pop. “Weapon X?”

“If it was Weapon X,” Jean began slowly, cautiously sitting down next to him. “Why did they not take you first? You were much closer to them than she was.”

Logan had no answer, but the thought of Storm being tested on like a lab rat sent waves of rage through him. “If it wasn’t them, then who else could it be?”

“Uh, guys,” a voice that belonged to Kitty Pryde called as she walked into the medbay with a laptop. “I think I may have found something… is this a bad time?”

“No, Kitty,” Jean said, getting up and waving her hand to bring a chair and table closer to them. “What did you find?”

“Not much,” Kitty sighed, her fingers dancing across the keyboard briefly before she pulled up a website. “I was looking through the anti-mutant forums, and at first it was kind of a dead end… but then I came across this website…” a red, white and gold signia appeared.

“The Church Of Humanity?” Charles asked as he wheeled himself behind Kitty. “Any relation to the FOH?”

“Not sure,” Kitty said as she scrolled down the page. “But This right here showed promise…”

 

**MrClean500: Mutant priest will be speaking tomorrow at the abandoned Church. Main staff of school will be there.**

**Mut143: All donors?**

**MrClean500: The weather one is of particular interest. All others will be donors if they don’t escape. The weather one is meant to be left alive and preferably unharmed.**

 

“So Storm was the specific target?” Logan growled.

“It gets worse…” Kitty said softly, switching to a different webpage. “I was looking around at the dark web… and found this…”

As she pulled it up, Logan’s eyes borrowed in disbelief. There was a poster asking for “mutant” donors and a location to meet up at. “Where is this located?” Logan snarled.

“It’s an abandoned warehouse in New Jersey,” Kitty replied, then clicked on another link. “I hope none of you have eaten…”

The link pulled up a live video feed of a child on an operating table. Logan estimated her to be a young teenager, and he didn’t need his enhanced senses to tell that she was scared. “What should I remove from our donor first?” A voice asked offscreen.

Requests soon began popping up at the bottom of the screen: _Kidney…heart… spleen…bone marrow…_

“Bone Marrow,” the voice mused, and a tall figure in scrubs and a mask so that no one could see their face appeared into the dim light of the room. There were hints of malice in his eyes, and Logan knew they weren’t going to give the girl any meds for her pain. “Please…” the girl begged. “Don’t do this…”

Jean reached over and pushed the laptop lid down before anything could begin. “Bad enough we have issues with the government from time to time,” she grumbled, glaring at the offensive laptop. “Now they’re cutting mutants up for sport.”

“Do we know for certain if they have Storm?” Logan growled, his fists trembling as he struggled to once again to keep them from popping. He had “lost” her once, and had fought hard to get her back; he wasn’t going to lose her in both realities. “Is she going to be one of the victims?”

Before anyone could answer, the alarm system went off. “That’s Cerebro,” Charles said, wheeling his chair around and forcing it to go full speed as he headed to the large computer. Scott, Nightcrawler and Colossus met them there.

“Did Cerebro find her?” Scott demanded as Charles wheeled inside the large room. After hitting several keys, Charles nodded. “She’s in Hell’s Kitchen…”

***

Storm slowly stirred as she woke up, rubbing her bleary eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized she was trapped… the room barely fitting her bed. “No…” she whispered, clambering over the foot of the bed to reach the metallic door. “Let me out!” She cried, her breath coming in rapidly as she banged on the door. “Please! Let me out!”

In response to her panic, lightning began dancing around the room as her pleas increased in frequency. Eventually, a bolt struck the door and shook the entire room when she finally released scream, but it barely left a dent as she collapsed to the ground. “Mother…” she whimpered before slipping back into the heavenly darkness.

***

Charles cringed as he took the helmet off. “She just had a panic attack…” he breathed, fighting off the massive headache that usually came when he contacted Storm when her powers were active. “I don’t think I’ll be able to reach her for awhile.”

Logan spun on his heel and turned to walk out. “I’m going to find her…” he growled.

“Logan!”

“Let him go, Scott,” Jean said softly, placing a hand on her fiancé. “You know he’s not going to stay put.”

“He’s going to get himself into trouble and possibly Storm killed,” Scott grumbled.

“Would you not do the same if the roles were reversed?” Jean asked, crossing her m as she caught his Ruby gaze. “What if I were the one that was captured? Would you wait around for him to find me?”

“I guess not,” Scott sighed, smiling for a moment down at Jean before clasping his hand in hers. “Come on, we need to call the others and put a plan in place.”

***

Logan had gone back to the church and began tracking the bastards that had take Storm. Following it through Hell’s Kitchen, he smirked when he reached an abandoned warehouse. “Don’t worry, ‘Ro,” he murmured, sticking to the shadows as he used his claws to slice open a lock.

Opening the door, he quickly took care of the guards, and continued walking down the corridor. Unable to keep a lock on her scent, the Wolverine switched focus to his ears, still checking to see if he could pick it up once again.

“The use of the grafting tissue from the weather mutant was a failure,” he heard someone spoke. “The subject’s body rejected it and died almost immediately.”

“Does our employer still wish to use the filthy mutant?” Another voice spoke up. “If not we should just purify her and begin the next harvest.”

“Our employer wants to try a different method,” the first voice replied; Logan could only imagine the smug grin that matched the voice. “Once she recovers a bit, he wants us to send in the feral mutant into her cell.”

Logan didn’t hear anymore, instead, he released a growl, and started toward the voices.

***

Storm slowly stirred awake, finding herself on the small bed her captors had provided in her tiny room. Feeling her heart spike at how close the walls were, she tried to sit up, only to cry out in pain as a sharp burning knife ran up both of her arms. “What…” she gasped, trying to lift her hands up and finding herself in just as much pain. Ever so slowly, she turned her arms, to find them stitched from the beginning of her wrist to her elbow.

The sounds of guns going off and shouts being heard around her distracted her for the briefest of moments. Awkwardly shifting, holding back her cries as she tried to get off the bed. She tried to generate lightning between her fingers, but was forced to stop as tears welled up in her eyes.

The door opened and she winced as the light briefly blinded her, unable to use her hands as shields. “‘Ro?” A voice called out to her.

“Logan…”she gasped, turning to see the Wolverine slice the footboard of the bed so that he could walk into the small room.

“I got ya,” Logan murmured in her ear, gently lifting her up. Storm clenched her jaw as the pain shot through her arms again, trying to stifle her cry. “I got ya, ‘Roro.”

Squeezing her eyes shut as she silently fought through her pain, she rested her head against his broad shoulder. She struggled to keep her gasps to a minimum, keeping her eyes closed as Logan made his way through the carnage that was undoubtedly surrounding them.

“Sorry,” Logan murmured when he finally slowed. She felt the leather on her back and realized she was in his Jeep. She then felt the strap go across her body as Logan buckled her in, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. “Rest, darlin’.”

***

“I have her,” Logan said into the phone an hour after he hit the highway. A glance No matter how hard she tried to play the strong woman, he knew she was in a lot of pain. Not only could he hear her whimpers and smell the saline from the tears she had both shed and tried to hold back, he could also feel her pain rolling off her in waves. “She’s in bad shape.”

“I wish you had let me in on this, Logan,” Jean sighed. “Would have saved us the trouble of finding your mess and fighting off the leftovers.”

“No time,” Logan said simply, fighting off the wave of guilt he felt about leaving the red head out of the loop. It was quickly replaced by anger as he glanced at Storm’s poorly stitched forearms. “Bastards slit both of her arms open, and I’d heard them say they were going to try something else with her and a feral.”

“Are you going back to the mansion?”Jean asked after a long pause. “Hank’s going to want to look at her injuries.”

“You know I’m not,” Logan replied, turning to look at Storm as they went over the bump. “Our home isn’t exactly a secret anymore…”

“And we both saw the messages and know that ‘Ro was the primary target,” Jean finished. “You know Scott’s going to give you an earful when you come back.”

“Worth it,” Logan smiled. Scott’s words never phased him in the first place, and he enjoyed getting the Boy Scout riled up every so often. “I’ll send you an image of where we’ll be and the nearest town once we get there. Don’t want anymore unwanted attention.”

“Don’t take too long,” Jean said firmly. “Otherwise I’m using Cerebro.”

Logan chuckled and hung up the phone, glancing back at Storm as she stirred a bit. When he had belted her in, he had made sure to belt her arms down as well. “Hang on, Storm,” he muttered, taking the shortcut he knew about to cross the border into Canada. America doesn’t seem to be as focused about invasion from Canada as they were about Mexico, so he knew the weak spots in the border well.

Once he was through, he waited about ten minutes before pulling over and grabbing the blanket from the trunk of the vehicle and placed it over her body, grabbing a pillow to support her neck as well. He knew it was impossible for Storm to get cold, but he didn’t want to take chances given her current state.

A couple of hours later, they finally reached his cabin close in Alberta. As gently as he could possibly manage, Logan released Storm’s seatbelt and lifted her into his arms. “I gotcha, ‘Ro,” he whispered, carrying her up the staircase and into the cabin.

Walking up to his room, he placed Storm on the king size bed, taking care to make sure she was in the center. He listened carefully to her breathing and double checked her pulse, making sure she wasn’t in any sort of shock before heading downstairs to find where he had hidden the emergency kit. _Jean_ , he called out mentally, filling a bowl with ice cold water and a rag. _We’re safe._

_We’ll be there as soon as we can_ , Jean replied almost instantly. _How is she?_

_Asleep for now_ , Logan replied, walking back up the staircase with the kit. _She’s in a lot of pain, though… and I’m not sure if normal painkillers will help her._

_Keep an eye on her_ , Jean said. _We’ll be there within the hour… I hope._

Logan broke the connection and sighed as he stopped by the bed and sat down next to her. He gently took her left arm and dabbing water onto the rag. She gasped when he took her wrist, her eyes fluttering open as she turned her head. “Lo… Logan?” she whispered.

“Hey, darlin’,” he replied, gently wiping her arm of all the blood. “Sleep okay?”

She looked around as if she were in some sort of haze, and when their eyes met again, he noticed how glassy they looked. “You okay, ‘Ro?” Logan asked, reaching to cup her cheek. The tears finally began to fall and Logan stopped what he was doing, putting the bowl of water on the end table and sliding just behind her. He could feel the intensity of her pain increase as she tried to shift closer to him, but he didn’t shy away as the sobs began escaping her throat. Silently, he began to slowly rub her back, occasionally offering words of comfort as her face was buried into his chest.

When they had finally subsided, Logan reached over for the rag, squeezing it out before bringing it to her forearm. She flinched as the material brushed against her skin. “Sorry, darlin’,” Logan murmured as he tried to continue as gently as he could.

“Where… where are we?” She finally asked, her voice a bit hoarse as she looked up at him. He could see 

“My cabin,” he replied simply, continuing to focus on cleaning her arms as best as he could. “Red and blue boy are on their way over here.”

He reached over and gently picked up her other arm, but not without the expected hiss as she fought off the pain. Once it was passed, he added more cold water to the rag and repeated what he did to her other arm. It pained him to see her in such agony, but he wanted to make sure the wounds were at least clean enough forhis comrades to inspect. “Want to watch some tv?” He murmured when he was finally done.

She nodded and he grabbed the remote from the drawer in the night table. Turning it on, he settled for a comedy that would be easy to tune out. Storm was in too much pain to pay attention, and he soon heard her breathing deepen as she once again fell asleep.

“Logan!” He heard a voice call from downstairs.

“Up here!” He replied, caressing her cheek.

A moment later Jean and Hank were in his room. “Oh my stars and garters,” Hank murmured as he put his bag down and stared at Storm’s wrists.

“Have you given her anything?” Jean asked as she looked over at her friend. Logan hadn’t moved from where he was, but he knew he needed to in a few moments.

“No,” he answered, looking down at her sleeping form. “She seems to just want to sleep.”

“That’s fine,” Hank said, filling up a syringe with something. “I’m going to give her mild sedative that will help keep her that way.”

“How was the raid?” Logan asked when he was sure that Storm was out for the count.

“Not great,” Jean answered as she inspected the stitching. “And whoever did these needs to go back to medical school.”

“You want to take them out and reapply them?” Hank asked.

“Do you have any surgical glue with you?”

“Yes,” Beast nodded as he went through his bag and brought out a small clear bottle. “The sedative should last long enough for us to complete the task.”

Logan decided to to take this time to walk out of the room. As much as he wanted to stay with Storm, all this medical stuff was bringing up unwanted memories; besides, he trusted Jean and Beast, so that was the best comfort he could afford for the time being.


	3. Recovery

Storm woke up slowly, confused as to where she was. “‘Ro,” she heard Logan breathe, rushing to her side.

“Logan?” She asked glad to hear his voice, but her head swimming with so many questions. “Wh-where am I?”

“In my cabin in Canada,” he replied as her eyes focused on him. “You gave us quite a scare.”

“Who is—agh!” She cried as she attempted to push herself up. She felt Logan’s arm wrap around her shoulders as he helped her sit up.

“Jean and Beast,” Logan replied, watching her closely as she looked down at her arms that were bandaged up to her elbow.  “They left after your fever finally broke this morning.”

“My wrists…” she murmured, flashes of a dark room entering her mind— a small dark room. Her breathing sped up some as all she could focus on was how cramped the room was. “What…what happened?”

“Easy, ‘Ro,” Logan murmured, his hand squeezing her shoulder firmly, attempting to let her know that she was safe. After several moments, she finally calmed down. She looked up Logan, searching his face for answers that he was not ready to give. He finally sighed and pulled her close. “They sliced your wrists open… Jean said that they took a nonessential muscle that’s used sometimes in muscle grafts. They did something else to your arms… but we’re not sure exactly what.”

Storm quietly absorbed the information, leaning into Logan as she fought back the sobs that threatened to overtake her. A roll of thunder sounded, and she felt Logan flinch, but his grip never slackened. He placed a kiss on her head, and remained there for several moments. Whether it was because he could sense that she didn’t want to talk or because he knew exactly what was going through her head, she didn’t know— nor did she care. She just wanted to wallow in her emotions.

Logan propped her up against the pillow and kissed her head. “I’ll be nearby if you need me,” he murmured.

“Thank you…” she mumbled, tears streaming down her face. She was glad she wasn’t back at the mansion, she didn’t want anyone to see her like this, weak and broken. She didn’t want Logan to see her like this either, but she had no choice on who had rescued her from whatever hole she was put in. Another rumble of thunder sounded and she sighed. She knew that it was time to rein in her emotions and clear up the weather; damn her connection to the weather, some people considered her an ice queen due to the fact that she never allowed her emotions to show. If only they knew that she felt more than she let on.

“Feeling a bit better?” Logan asked, off to the side. She turned to look him, noticing that he brought food and something to drink with him. Her stomach growled and she realized that she probably hadn’t eaten for awhile.

“No,” She sniffed, instinctively lifting up her arm to wipe her eyes, stopping when the pain shot through her arms. “Damn it…”

Logan sat down on the bed, his touch was barely a caress as he wiped away her tears; placing a cup with a straw on the nightstand. “Brought you something to eat,” he said, holding up a sandwich.

“Thanks,” she murmured, not wanting to look at him. Her stomach growled again, and she flushed a bit in embarrassment. “How… long have I been here?”

“Five days,” Logan murmured,  his arm going around her shoulders as he slid next to her. “Your arms got infected and you had a fever for most of the time you’ve been here. Finally broke this morning, but you were still pretty out of it.”

Storm was silent again, her gaze going back down to her bandages. “How long must they remain like this?”

“Jean said she’ll check on ya in a week,” Logan said slowly, placing a hand on her chin and tilting it toward him. She averted her gaze as Logan cupped her cheek. She felt the heat rise into her face again as Logan continued to give her a concerned look. “Until then, she and Beast have ordered you to rest.”

“Guess I have no choice,” she mumbled, her gaze still on her bandaged arms.

A moment later she saw a piece of a sandwich right in front of her face. “You gotta eat, ‘Ro,” Logan said softly, using his free hand to pull back a lock of her hair.

Storm sighed and nibbled at the sandwich, fighting back the feeling of helplessness as Logan grabbed the remote from the nightstand. She knew he was doing this because she obviously couldn’t help herself right then; were it anything else, he would’ve waited until she asked. She looked away when she was about halfway done, and Logan took it as a sign that she didn’t want anymore. 

“Want a drink?” He asked softly, placing the half-eaten sandwich on the table. He then grabbed the water cup that had a bendy straw in it. She reluctantly leaned forward a bit as she sucked on the straw. Her throat seemed to relax a bit as the cool liquid lubricated her dry throat muscles, but she pulled away not long after.

Logan took the hint and placed the cup on the nightstand, flicking through the channels as his arm once again wrapped around Storm’s shoulders. His fingers slowly caressed the skin , and she gave in to the relaxation it allowed her to feel. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against his shoulder, doing her best to appreciate what he was doing instead of wallowing in self pity about her current limitations.

“‘Ro,” Logan murmured, disturbing Storm from her light doze that she hadn’t realized she had fallen into. His fingers gently caressed her arm down to her fingers— making sure to barely touch her bandaged area. It was then that she realized that they looked a bit soiled. “Let’s get you cleaned up some and reapply the bandages.”

Storm nodded, knowing she probably didn’t smell all that pleasant. Five days without a shower would do that. Standing up from the bed, Logan turned and picked Storm up, carrying her into the bathroom.

***

The winds seemed to caress Storm's skin as continued walking through the forest that was just outside the cabin. Normally, creating a thunder storm would bring her so much joy that she would be flying about in it, dancing with the lightning bolts as they flashed through the sky. Today, though, she just walked with the rain revealing her mood while the winds swirled around her, ready to prevent a fall if need be. Putting any pressure on her hands felt like someone was slicing through them all over again, and it made her feel weak and inferior to have Logan's help all the time. _Some Goddess you are_ , she thought bitterly as lightning split the sky with a crack of thunder.

Her thoughts then drifted to Logan, and how patient he had been with her for the past week. _For how long, though..._ she thought as tears started to well up in her eyes. She had most certainly not been the best of company the past week, snapping at him for even moving to try and help her up. Yes, she knew he was only trying to help her, and he even refrained from giving her any sarcastic remarks that she was almost positive was going through his mind; in fact, he had been extremely gentle with her, even keeping silent when she knew that everyone else would be trying to comfort and tell her that she was going to get better. Then she thought about their talks about his time travel and how at some point he had been chasing after her best friend.  _What if he starts chasing her again... or worse some other foreign woman from Asia—_ another boom of thunder brought her to her senses and she shook her head.  _Goddess, I'm a mess._

Sighing she turned and started to head back to the cabin, her eyes whiting over as she started to disperse the storm she had once again unintentionally created, her thoughts still wondering about how Logan truly saw her at this point in time.

 ***

 “How is she?” Jean asked through phone a week later. Logan was on the porch of the cabin as a gentle rain fell around it. Storm was out on one of her afternoon excursions through the forest, and the primary cause of the rain.

“Frustrated,” Logan replied, keeping an eye out for the first sign of her return. He had given her some distance to cope with her injuries, but he knew with the temporary loss of use of her hands it was difficult. “She tried to use the winds to feed herself with a spoon. Thankfully it was only some pudding and not soup.”

“Gotta hand it to her for being resourceful,” Jean chuckled. “I’m guessing she’s fighting off your help?”

“Every damn chance she gets,” Logan growled. “I guess being a Goddess made her forget she was mortal.”

“She’s known that for awhile,” Jean replied. “Being helpless isn’t a strong suit of hers, though. Speaking of weather goddess, is it normal up there to get ten inches of rain a day a week straight?”

“I may not have a medical degree,” Logan began. “But I know for a fact that making her keep all her emotions pent up like she does isn’t going to help her out. She only causes it for an hour or so.”

“Be careful about that,” Jean warned. “Storm’s Powers draw on natural sources. And if we’re noticing the odd weather pattern, who’s to say that whoever took her hasn’t?”

“Storm needs to let it out, Red,” Logan repeated firmly. “Ultimately it’s up to her how long she wants to release her emotions… but they don’t last any longer than an hour by her choosing.” There was a bit of a tense silence between them when Logan sighed again, changing the subject. “Any idea who this Farouk guy is?”

“None,” Jean answered, her voice was a bit tight. During her stay at the cabin, Storm had several fever dreams about this figure. Neither Jean nor Hank knew who she was talking about at the time, and since Logan had arrived long after Storm, he also had no clue who this mystery person was. “I’m closer to Storm than anyone else besides you and I can’t think of any conversation we’ve had where he was brought up. Beast took a look at her medical history— particularly anything involving her claustrophobia— and came up empty as well. My only guess is that she encountered this being during her time in Cairo. She never talks much about her thieving career... or Cairo come to think of it. Anymore nightmares since we left?”

“No,” Logan replied, noticing the rain slow to a halt. “I think Storm’s coming back up to the cabin, though.”

“I’ll leave you to her mercies then,” Jean chuckled. “I hear Scott coming anyway, but call me if there’s any significant change.”

“You mean like she actually cooperates and lets me help her?”

“Definitely,” Jean laughed. “Bye, Logan.”

After hanging up the phone, Storm appeared a moment later, wincing a bit as she walked up the steps. “Hey, ‘Ro,” Logan said as she walked past him.

“Hey,” she said softly, using her foot to open the door. She used too much of her weight on the door as pushed in, though, and fell on the floor sprawled.

“‘Ro,” Logan breathed, racing to her side. He took care not to help her up, though. The last couple of times he tried to help after she fell, she bit his head off.

“I’m fine,” she called, her voice breaking as she laid there for a moment. She shifted to her side, strictly putting pressure on her elbows as she struggled to her feet.

“Need something to eat?” Logan asked, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He wanted her to know that he understood what she was going through, that he wasn't going to judge her for anything that had been going on in the past week. His gestures seemed to be falling on a brick wall, as he knew her damn pride was getting in the way of allowing her to accept any sort of help; pride and independence that he was sure she developed during her thieving days in Cairo and never shook it off since. Still, he was going to stay with her throughout the ordeal, and maybe once she was completely better, he could go back to being the grumpy old man she knew him to be; only showing his soft side to her and a select few others.

She gently pulled away from him and shook her head, much to his disappointment. “I’m going to lie down for a bit.” With that a gentle breeze swirled around her and lifted her up onto the loft.

Logan grunted a bit and turned toward the garage. On his workbench was a small gift bag and he grabbed it and then headed back up to his room, a small grin on his face. While she had been coping with her injuries, he had secretly called Jean a couple of times to ask her about things that would potentially help pull Storm out of the funk she was in. It had taken him only a few days to make, leaving the cabin once or twice for a small supplies, and in a short amount of time so that he was sure Storm wasn't causing herself further injury should she have one of her rare bright ideas. He stopped by the door as he heard soft sobs and sniffles. Sighing, he called out to her. “‘Ro, I’m coming in.”

“Okay,” Storm replied, struggling to control the crack in her voice.

Logan walked in, placing the bag on the bed next to her. “Got ya something,” he said, sitting down next to her. “Hoping it’ll keep you occupied for the next week or so.” Storm shifted herself so that she was up and facing Logan as he pulled out a small wooden box… that had a lock inside of it. She looked up at him curiously as he handed her a set of lock picks. “I seem to recall that you could open any lock with any method that was necessary,” Logan continued when she didn’t say anything. “So I thought I would give you a challenge.”

“Was she like that?” Storm asked a moment later. “A thief with tricks up her sleeve?”

Logan knew she was referring to his previous relationship before the massive time travel, and he hated the comparisons that they privately had. This was the future he had created and wanted with Storm— she was alive and safe with him. He wasn't expecting the curveball where his Goddess would get captured and butchered... although given how life loved to throw him a bunch of curveballs at once, he probably should have expected something to go awry. “She didn’t show it often,” Logan admitted after a moment, cupping her face as he made her look at him. “There really isn’t much of a difference between you two, y’know.”

“Except she wasn’t a weak mortal,” Storm grumbled.

“You’re not weak,” Logan said firmly, placing a finger to her lips to prevent her from speaking. “You’re the strongest person I know— and a bit more fun than in the alternate future.” He leaned in closer, feeling the shudder go through her body as he searched her face. “It’s just taking time for your injuries to heal.”

Storm sighed, breaking eye contact as she slumped against him. “It’s taking so long…” she murmured as he pulled her closer. “I still can’t even move my fingers without the slightest hint of pain…”

Logan was silent as he smelled the saline from her eyes. Words of understanding flitted through his mind, encouraging her that it would be okay, but he knew that was the last thing she wanted to hear. Instead, he just held her close, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “Hey,” he whispered after a moment, a wolffish grin crossing his lips. “If you get that box open, there might be something on the inside.”

Her eyes danced back with acceptance of the challenge. “Better be something good,” she said, a hint of a smile crossing her lips as she used one leg to pull it closer to her, and she used the toes of her other leg to pick up the lockpick. “Give me a few hours.”


End file.
